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Long Live the King
File:Chapter0.1.png Chapter 0.1 - Long Live the King Family Reunion A certain presence appeared not too far from her position, his spiritual power was all too familiar for her, as it should. She was meant to be around that kind of power for as long as the war went, but it felt as though this war has been going on for centuries. As he approached closer, she could feel the Reiatsu suck the life out of her, feeling as though her strength was gently fading from her position the longer she stood within its range. If he wanted to kill her, he would have a long time ago, and even if now, didn't even need to throw an attack. Flipping the brown hair that settled before her shoulders back behind her, Mother turned around to see the Arrancar king strolling towards her position on the cliffside, overlooking the Soul Society. Their position on the mountain was far enough for them to be invisible to any eye, but it didn't mean that they could freely let their power go without holding some back. "Hail, Grandfather..." Mother said as she saluted before turning back to look over the city. "Hail to you too child-of-mine. Do you have anything to report?" Apargon's deep, robotic voice asked from behind the mask, joining Mother's side as now both of them gazed over the city. "Ever since the Soul King's position was filled by that Kurosaki kid, times between the Soul World and the Human World have slowly been fixed... Which means it might be safe to release troops back into the Human realm once again." Mother said, fixing the gauntlets that clamped around her hands. "Granted, that doesn't mean that we should forget about what the Soul Society has become, especially with that Kenpachi becoming head captain." She continued with a slightly uncomfortable voice. Apargon turned to see Mother from the corner of his eye, scoffing at the thought of the Soul Reapers becoming a problem for them, especially when the Civil War was still active in Hueco Mundo. "We can worry about the Soul Reapers once we've finished off Harribel's remnants. I doubt the Soul Reapers would be a problem for now." He said, turning around to see the rest of the cliffside that they stood at before walking around, remaining in hearing distance of Mother to keep himself busy. "Even with a Kenpachi as its leader? I'll remind you that the Soul Reapers have especially become more dangerous, they still had to send agents out to collect the hollows in the Human World, so they've definitely improved on how well they've approached their targets. The Arrancar's we've fought seem to remain the same, but I can only fear what would happen if the Gotei 13 were to attack." Mother pointed out with worry, her voice matching the expression of her face. Apargon waved it off and chuckled, "Fine. If you want to deal with them, then so be it. Call the Cazar together and figure something out, but I want whatever you're going to do done in a short amount of time. The only reason I'm getting you all together here and not back home is that if you plan on taking on the captains, you've got a better chance surviving than alone." "Of course my king." Mother said, bowing before him in place, "I think I may only need the Father and Daughter for this, we can keep the Son stationed in Hueco Mundo if you need." Apargon tilted his head and stood in place, hearing that Mother had needed only the two Cazar for whatever she was thinking. "Seems a bit inclusive, don't you think. Imagine how the Son would feel if you left him out." "Too many cooks spoil the broth, is how the saying goes. Besides, the plan I've got doesn't include the Cazar fighting to handle the Soul Society and the Gotei 13..." Mother smiled. "So be it then. I'll go tell the children when I get back, but make sure you're not out for too long. We've still got a war back home to handle." Apargon reminded with a smirk before the space in front of him shifted open, revealing a black void sitting within that Apargon could step into. "I'll give you at most a year to do this, if nothing has been accomplished, return home immediately." He said as he stepped in and closed the space, leaving Mother alone on the cliffside. Mother looked back just to see Apargon leave and heavily sighed as soon as she was left to her own thoughts for the meantime. Polishing her white, bone-like gauntlets, Mother flicked them out to transform it into a pair of giant claws, with fingers that doubled the length of her forearm. A sharp sound of metal sliding against each other and mechanisms locking in place echoed around her area, the sounds bouncing off the rock and trees that littered the mountainside. Mother didn't seem all too bothered with causing a sound, especially when the sound of blades being slid out from sheathes followed after the sounds of bushes rustling just near her. In only a moment of time after Apargon left, Mother found herself surrounded and outnumbered by a squad of Soul Reapers that seemed to spy on their conversation. Dressed in their black and white uniforms, they looked like lower-level footmen, the kind you would use as cannon fodder during battle. Against an Arrancar of Mother's power, this would have been all too easy for her. "It's an Arrancar. What do we do?" One of the Soul Reapers cried out, looking for guidance in his friends. "We kill it, right?" "I guess we do, if it ain't a soul then we get rid of them!" "Holy shit, if this was what was giving off that kind of power, I think it might be better if we call back up." "Oh, this should be interesting." Mother thought as a smirk grew on her face, turning around to see the agents that had her stuck in place. Flicking her claws, Mother continued to make the sound of metal scraping against each other, seeing that one of the Soul Reapers was visibly nervous with what might happen. "I'M GOING TO GET REINFORCEMENTS." The nervous soul reaper cried out in fear before running out of the group, causing the smile on Mother's face to grow even bigger before she disappeared for a brief second, just as soon as the Soul Reaper had disappeared after retreating. It was almost as if Mother didn't change in appearance, besides the blood that splattered on one hand of her claws. She was fast and seemed to know where the Soul Reaper was to accomplish a kill that quickly. It was obvious that they were no match for her, yet the Soul Reapers remained firm on their guard, closing the gap that the retreater left to make sure that the Arrancar had no visible way to run out. Their blades all pointing inward to Mother, who pulled her body closer to avoid touching their swords. Who knew where they've been, especially for a bunch of seemingly amateur agents. Taking a deep breath in, Mother closed her eyes and threw her arms outwards to the sides, allowing her natural instincts to take control and finish them off for her. She had seen everything she needed to see, and now it was only a matter of time and effort to make sure that they wouldn't go anywhere to compromise her position. With her eyes closed, Mother began battling against the agents, her claws flying into the swords by her sides and pushing them upwards and outwards. Some swords remained in their users hands, albeit forcing their holders to stumble back a bit from the powerful force she applied, but others were sent flying around, some into the bushes hidden from the agents, with some also falling over the edge of the cliff, dropping hundreds of stories down to leave their users unarmed. This seemed to forget about the soul reapers in front and behind her, who immediately drew their weapons and slashed or stabbed inward to the Arrancar, hoping to get her from multiple directions to entrap her. They may have been amateurs, but the speed they had thrown their weapons at her certainly displayed the kind of skill they were enforced at the academy. For a mission to be finished quickly, they needed to strike quickly without wasting so much time. Even Mother was impressed with the speed that the agents attacked her at, but lost her smile as soon as the blades met contact with her skin. They might've been fast, but at the cost of power, it didn't become just as strong as a normal blade, even against her Hierro technique. The blades simply dragged across her body as a blade does when sliding against another piece of metal. It was if there was no effort into their attacks, which could only go punished for such carelessness against Mother. Flicking the swords away from her, Mother flicked her claws outwards to reveal them in their individuality on her hand before slashing around her position covering a 360-degree turn, making sure her claws touched any blade that tried to go in again for a second strike. Most of the swords that did as she thought were flicked back to their user or sending them turning to the side, however, seemed to become immensely heavier than before as they were pulled right down onto the ground along with their holders. Mother opened her eyes to see that several Soul Reaper agents were trapped as their swords crushed their hands underneath their hilts, causing them to kneel onto their ground vulnerable to what Mother desired. With some out of condition and others getting back into action even without their swords, Mother nodded her head and flicked her claws again. Taking a deep breath, she twisted her body to the side and slashed at the air in front of her, not touching the Soul Reapers that were ready to continue the fight. Finishing her attack by twisting her body to the other side, a few seconds passed as the Soul Reapers in her vicinity remained frozen in place, baring no reaction to what had happened or so at a first glance. As a short period passed on, the several agents fell to the ground as claw marks covered their chests, slashing deep to the bone as blood-stained their Shinigami uniform. The only sounds that followed were the sounds of bodies dropping to the ground around Mother, who resumed a professional, straight back stance to look around her area. Any Soul Reapers who were present were killed in an instant, sparing no-one that Mother had laid her eyes on. But that's what seemed to linger in the back of her head, wondering if there was any that she didn't see but when back for help. Flicking the blood off her claws and watching it splatter onto the ground, Mother went around and tapped the bodies and blades of the Shinigami agents. Once she got everyone, she lifted her hand and sent them drifting upwards into the sky, as gravity seemed to have no control over their bodies, watching them as they drifted high above the clouds and out of sight. "Now to wait if there were any reinforcements..." She said to herself before walking to the side and into the bushes. ---- Apargon stepped through another rift opening into a lab like room, filled with several desks and shelves storing many books and vials, filled with colours that could only be made with the hand of a sentient being. Taking his first steps into the area, he noticed that every step he took echoed loudly, making his presence known to whoever was in here at the time. Looking around to see if there was anyone here, Apargon wandered around, looking at the many things that were going on at once. Bunsen burners turned on underneath large beakers filled with strange liquids and gasses, tubing sent off into god knows where as they entangled into different directions, making it difficult to guess which tube went into which container. The smell was almost heinous as the area seemed to be notably cold, as winter had found itself isolated in this one room. "I know you're our Grandfather and all, but wouldn't it kill you to use a door?" A young voice called out. Apargon jolted back up and looked around the room for where the voice came from. "If you're going to talk to me, at least make sure I can see you, child." He announced, going back to looking at the specific experiment that was currently going on in the background. Footsteps as loud as Apargon's began echoing throughout the room, getting louder the closer they came. Before Apargon knew it, a young female Arrancar came into view, wearing a lab coat and holding two vials in both hands with a displeased look on her face. Rolling her eyes as soon as she looked upon her leader, she placed the vials down and saluted him, "Hail Grandfather." "Hail to you too child-of-mine. How goes business?" Apargon asked, momentarily looking at the Arrancar before back at the experiment. The Arrancar sighed and leaned against the nearest table, wiping her eyes to show that she was irritated, not being clear if it was Apargon's presence here or her work that was on her mind. "I have got a lot on plate at the moment... The rebelling Arrancar forces of our previous God-Queen still get in the way of my deliveries and test subjects, just recently they attacked one of our holding facilities and let my lab-rats escape. Not to mention that the time modifiers that I've prepared for travel between here and the Human World have become unnecessary, with the time shifts being fixed with that Kurosaki man coming back..." "Yes, yes, get on with it... You should know why I could be here." Apargon interrupted, eyes still on the experiment, not a hint of care anywhere in his tone. Shocked and disgusted by Apargon's behaviour, the Arrancar rolled her eyes approached a nearby table, covered by papers un-neatly placed over its surface, scrawled with handwriting and drawings that wouldn't make sense to those who did not write them. Pushing some papers to the side, the Arrancar began looking for something within the documents, shifting the placements of some writings to find it. After a brief moment of looking, she pulled out a notable paper with a red cross in the top corner, standing out from the black and white mess it was hidden in. Looking over to make sure it was the right one, the female Arrancar rolled her eyes and headed back to Apargon, waving the paper back and forth as she walked up to him. "Brother seems to have located the mineral needed for this weapon that you oh so need. Mind if I ask what you intend to do with the weapon? Seems a bit overkill to use it on the remaining Arrancar rebels." She asked as she handed the paper over to Apargon. Looking over to her and reaching out from his cloak to quickly snatch the document, Apargon looked back to the experiment going on before him to divert his gaze from the Arrancar once again. "I feel as though there's something much more powerful than me out there... Maybe even more powerful than the Soul King and the King of the Quincy..." He responded in a worried tone. "I need a countermeasure just in case something of that measure does arise, can't be too careful." The female Arrancar had a disturbed look on her face as she listened, scratching the side of her arm while looking to the same experiment that Apargon seemed to concentrate his view on. With Harribel out of the picture, Apargon was considered the leader of Hueco Mundo, and thus the most powerful recognised Arrancar. She had vivid memories of when the Quincy arrived in the Hollow World, marching into Las Noches and defeating Harribel to take over them. Many of her friends and allies were forced into their ranks, all to be treated as dirt underneath their shoe. She might have hated Soul Reapers, but she hated the Quincy much more, to the point that if any action was to be taken against them, she would do as much as she could to take part. But all she could wonder was, what could me powerful than the King of the Shinigami's and the Quincy? Apargon might have been powerful, but compared to those two, none could really compare. Reaching over and pushing a button that was implanted onto the desk, the experiment that Apargon was watching suddenly switched on even more, as the liquid from the beaker was pulled through a tube upwards, causing his gaze to follow the liquid's travel. Its bright colour and its movement made it easier to see against the other activities of the other tubes it was entangled with. Only seconds would pass until it was delivered into a large metal, cylindrical container, with pressure gauges all over that slowly increased. Apargon's intrigue was pulled in more as he came closer to the large metal object, slowly walking around to read what the gauges said. "Don't get too close Grandfather, that thing there is pretty old and I'm not sure when it might give up and explode." The Arrancar warned, a nervous smile planted on her face. "For the smartest Arrancar in the Cazar, it makes me nervous when your not sure about something..." Apargon responded in a bland tone, continuing to look as he walked back a few feet. The Arrancar shrugged her nervous smile turning into one of confidence, "Well. When has my experiments and inventions ever failed you Grandfather." "Never." Apargon responded before walking away, cracking his head side to side. "Before I leave, the Mother wants you and Father to meet her. She apparently has a plan that will keep the Soul Reapers off our backs while we continue this Civil War." "The Soul Reapers? Are they becoming a threat?" The Arrancar asked with an eyebrow raised. "The Mother thinks so. Zaraki has become quite the leader, and they seemed to have adjusted to the time shifts in their own way before now. I doubt that Zaraki would be the power that I fear would become greater than the former Quincy King, but just in case, start working on that weapon for me..." Apargon finished before opening another void in the space beside him to walk into, stepping and closing it to leave the female Arrancar by herself in the lab, only the sounds of her breathing to comfort her in this cold space. "The Shinigami? Really now? How exciting. Maybe I may get to finally compare my experiments to that Kurotsuchi captain!" The Arrancar smiled, "I really do hope I get to play a big part in this... Though, Grandfather didn't mention Brother. Does that mean he's not coming with us to do this?" As she was left to her thoughts, the doors of the lab swung open, smashing against the tables that laid beside them to reveal a beaten and bloodied male Arrancar, panting heavily as his sword swung by his side. With a confident but tired look on his face as he began stumbling into the lab, stumbling towards the female Arrancar as he tried his best not to fall into any other equipment scattered around him. "Dammit... Daughter, get me another one of the serums..." He ordered, his voice trying to catch a breath after every few words. The female Arrancar rolled her eyes and walked over to one of the tables supporting a drawer filled with vials, containing the same sort of liquid that seemed to bubble within. Its vibrant, neon green colour even glowed as she held it in her hand after taking one, tossing it carelessly to the older Arrancar man without looking. "Watch it!" He yelled, as he rushed forward and caught it with one hand, narrowly missing it by an inch. "Can't you be a bit more careful with this sort of stuff?" "How about you stop being so careless and getting into fights so you don't need to go through this stuff so fast. It's only been a couple of months and you've already taken half of the supply. If you want me to be careful, stop overdoing it out there, Father." The female Arrancar said as she flipped her hair behind her shoulder and walked away, "Grandfather stopped by and said that Mother will be needing us over at the Soul Society. Apparently, the Shinigami might become a threat, and she's got a plan to deal with them." "The Soul Reapers? It's been quite a time since I've last crossed blades with one." Father reminisced, unscrewing the top of the vial and chugging down its contents, placing the empty vial on a table next to him. Holding two fingers before his torso, Father made a circular motion with his hand anticlockwise. Before him and Daughter's very eyes, the damage on his body seemed to reverse, healing and closing up as if he had not been fighting at all. While the blood and tears on his clothes remained, besides that he looked as though he had not fought at all. Perhaps the powers of whatever were in that vial, or maybe another source, Father was feeling refreshed with energy, keen to go out back onto the battlefield. "The civil war has kept us very occupied from anything other than Arrancars. I feel like a change of pace of would be nice for both the body and soul." Father continued, smiling as he opened a void using Descorrer. "Let's not waste any time." He said as he beckoned his head to Daughter, prompting her to follow him through. "Wouldn't Grandfather be looking for you? I'm not sure he knows where you are." Daughter asked as she moved to the opening with a nervous tone. "I wouldn't dwell on it too much, he might spend some time searching but will give it up sooner or later. He'll send a messenger out and I'll just tell them its already done. Now let's go." He said in a rather forceful manner. ---- Having removed the evidence of the short-lived fight, Mother returned to her normal spot overlooking the Soul Society's city. This type of scenery was strange to her, having grown up in the forever plain world of the Hollows, missing much of the colour that the Shinigami and other Souls have come to celebrate. Closing her eyes to soak in the atmosphere, Mother felt two familiar presences approaching from behind her, familiar enough not to prompt her to draw her weapon forward. Reverting her claws into gauntlets, Mother turned around to see Father and Daughter walking side by side, smiles planted on their faces as soon both parties saw each other. "Heard you called for us," Father said with a smirk, leaning on his back leg in a casual posture. "I'm going to assume that Grandfather's explained why?" Mother asked in a relieved tone, "We'll need Daughter's smarts and your power to do what I've got planned. Once we got what we need, we won't need to be doing any fighting and leave the Soul Society to its chaos." "...So. What do you have planned then?" Daughter asked, tilting her head to the side. Mother faced directly at Daughter and smiled, "Your Brother had told me that you've found the key to resurrection." Daughter's eyes open wide out of shock, that sort of secret was meant to be between her and her brother. After how many years of fighting in the civil war, only recently did Daughter uncover such an ability, to avoid death and live forever. Among her kind, it had only been her and a former Espada that had uncovered the key to cheat death, as well as the Shinigami, Kurotsuchi, so knowing what to do was quite limited. She took a step back to keep her balance and looked to the ground, questioning how to spread out this kind of information has gone. "Has he now?" She asked in a light, confused tone. "Yes. But from the way he said it, I think that he didn't tell anyone else besides me." Mother said trying to comfort her after seeing that she had disturbed Daughter. "But it'll be the more important part of the plan, okay? Just what do you need to make it work?" Daughter scratched her head and walked close to the edge of the cliff overlooking the city, taking a deep breathe in before quickly turning around to look at both Mother and Father. "Any sort of remains will have to do... Just so long as they have belonged to whoever the individual you want back. The most I can probably do is perhaps ashes, but granted that's going to need your time ability, Father." She continued before looking directly at the male Arrancar. "I should have guessed... How old is the body are we talking about?" Father said, looking over to Mother with a sense of intrigue in his voice. Mother cleared her throat before continuing, looking back to the Soul Reaper city from the corner of her eyes whilst her body faced the two Arrancars. "I don't know the limit of your powers, but this isn't going to be some easy jump. The person I want to bring back died way back in the Quincy Inva-" "Your joking. Five hundred years?!" Father's voice exclaimed as he stepped forward out of shock, "You want me to revert a body's state that long?" "Calm down. It's needed, trust me. You've heard the stories about the Kenpachi and the Soul Reapers. Well, after hanging around these parts for so long, I think I know where they keep the remains of the one they call Yachiru Unohana. The First Kenpachi." Mother said, also trying to calm down Father. "The first thing we'll have to do is actually retrieve the remains..." "How hard will that be?" Daughter butted in. Mother's expression turned worried as she wandered to the edge, looking over the city as if trying to see the routes that would lead to their destination. Her face would already tell them that this wasn't going to be a simple task, but how she described it meant that it could be well worth the effort. She left the two in silence for a few seconds before turning back with a smile on her face, "It shouldn't be too hard if you just follow the plan. I've looked over the routes and such, even got a few of our moles inside the Soul Society to inform me about any things such as patrols and timetables, yada yada yada." "And I assume that I'll be the one that'll be retrieving the remains?" Father asked in an unsurprised manner. Mother smirked and looked back to Father, "We can only really send one of us in... Can't send the Son because the likelihood of him jeopardising the mission and alerting the whole of the Soul Society is too high. Can't send the Daughter because she's needed to prepare whatever she needs for the resurrection..." "And what about you? I don't see why you can't do it." Father asked with a raised eyebrow. "The way that Grandfather created you was that you've got the ability to hide all your Spiritual Power to anyone that may be trying to search for it. You essentially become invisible to their sensors. I don't have that sort of luxury when infiltrating a pit full of Shinigami." Mother explained before playfully nudging the Daughter on the shoulder, "I'll be with the Daughter preparing for the resurrection so when you get back, we can start immediately. Grandfather gave us a year to do this, but I think he was just being too generous." Father was visibly annoyed at Mother's excuse, but nonetheless accepted his role in her whole plan. While he wasn't exactly excited to use his powers to bring back the body that's been deceased for over five centuries, it did give him the chance to perhaps fight the Shinigami once again. Everyone stood around nodding their heads as they all thought about the plan, but the Daughter was still had a bit of a guilty expression planted on her face. Leaving the Son out of this may be best, but he was usually in everything that the Daughter was doing. She knew that the Mother had nothing of a grudge against Brother, but surely there might have been somewhere that they could fit the last Cazar. "So when shall we start?" Father said with a brash smile.